Today began with just 8 survivors from the starting field of 99. Some were a little short coming into today, and some had been bossing their table and hoovering up chips on their way to the finale of this event. One of the bigger stacks coming into today, Linh Tran, brought plenty of tournament poker pedigree with him, having won an APT High Roller, and made many final tables in previous Main Events across Asia. Despite the imposing figure of Chilean big stack, Oscar Orrego, Linh Tran managed to claim his first Main Event title. He won a lengthy heads up battle with the impressive Orrego, and took home USD$26,000 for his victory.
It only took a few time for the final table to reach 6 handed play, as David Farber and Charly Mouline couldn't find any traction to carry them in the right direction.
Charly Mouline brought a healthy, third largest chip stack into today's final table, and would have felt he had a good opportunity to take this title. The poker gods however, had other ideas. In a cruel and inescapable cooler, his AA was defeated by the KK of Linh Tran, busting Mouline in 7th. Daniel Tan lost his chance to take down the event few minutes after.
Pascal Van de Putte wasn't the most experienced player at this table, but he had the happy demeanour of a man who was glad to be a part of the excitement surrounding a live final table. He came into play with the 6th largest stack, and expressed his contentment afterwards with a very respectable 5th place. He also stated that he was looking forward to participating in more live events in Asia.
Gregory Caubet can also be proud of his 4th place finish on a final table that featured some very talented players with a wealth of live experience. He decided to make his move preflop with 77 but unfortunately ran into the JJ of Orrego.
Having brought the 4th largest stack to the table today, Chris Edgar found himself still in with a chance when three handed play began, just 2 hours into the final table. He fought well with the shortest of the three stacks, and eventually got his chips in on the turn, with a Straight draw, and Flush draw vs Linh Tran's set, but the river provided no help. Despite his efforts, he couldn't do enough to change the Tran versus Orrego duel that always seemed a likely final chapter of the APT Cambodia Main Event.
3 handed play
Credit has to go to the APT for a perfectly balanced structure in their tournaments, as both players had ample room for manoeuvre when play reached heads up. Through hours of play, these two experienced foes traded pots, and the title could in truth, have gone either way. Linh Tran put in some big river check raises to put Orrego in some very tough spots, and in the end perhaps just had a little too much quality to be denied the trophy. His cash game experience no doubt served Tran well, as he treated the spectators to some powerful poker.
Before lifting the trophy, Linh Tran took a moment to chat with SoMuchPoker and explained how tournaments were an enjoyable hobby for him, but that his focus is mainly on success at the cash tables. He certainly seems at home with tournament poker though, as he now adds a Main Event title to his list of accomplishments.
Linh Tran is the new APT Cambodia Champion
This victory marks a memorable moment in the flourishing career of Linh Tran. Although he was born in Vietnamm he is a highly respected player at cash games tables in Pnohm Penh and has a great following here. He has at times also travelled to Macau to test himself at higher stakes, is a very modest individual, and a popular champion for this event. He became with today victory number 1 on the Vietnam all time money list with an adjusted total live earnings of $360,000. He remains also more than ever the GPI ranked number 1 player in Vietnam.
Oscar Orrego will also take some comfort from his winnings, after initially only travelling over to visit a friend in Cambodia. He spoke afterwards of how much he had enjoyed the atmosphere and structure of this APT event, and how he will probably be travelling to Cebu in February for the APT event.
Final 8 Payout (Usd):
1st Linh Tran – Vietnam – 26,130
2nd Oscar Alache – Chile – 16,000
3rd Chris Edgar – Australia – 11,500
4th Gregory Caubet – France – 8,900
5th Van De Putte Pascal – France – 7,600
6th Daniel Tan – Australia – 6,600
7th Charly Mouline – France – 5,700
8th David Farber – USA – 5,000
Article by Craig B.